Taking Measure Blog: Biometrology

Biometrology

A researcher wearing safety gear kneels at the open door of a lab fridge, displaying a tray of samples.

Sinking Our Teeth Into Science: How Biomedical Engineering Can Help Make Us Healthier

September 4, 2024

From safer dental products to tracking the movement of tiny plastics through gut tissues, regenerative medicine can make us healthier.

NIST researchers Elizabeth Strychalski and David Ross program the robotic arm that operates within the box-like structure of the NIST biofoundry.

The Promise of Synthetic Cells: Revolutionary New Drugs, Outer Space Explorers and Pushing Beyond the Limits of Evolution

July 31, 2024

Scientists are getting closer to creating a living cell from scratch. It could help treat diseases or even create life forms that can be better adapted to space

Melinda Kleczynski poses sitting at her desk, with a monitor showing data and graphs behind her.

From Diamonds in Your Computer to Safer Medications, NIST Researchers Look at What’s Next for 2024 and Beyond

January 3, 2024

Our up-and-coming researchers look ahead to 2024 and beyond — and tell us how their work will impact the world.

Several metallic envelopes with NIST labels are displayed with Halloween decorations like cobwebs, skeletons and pumpkins.

There Will Be (Precisely Measured) Blood: A Haunted House Tour Through NIST’s Spookiest Reference Materials

October 27, 2023

This spooky season, join us for a haunted house tour of the scariest standard reference materials in our labs.

Melissa Phillips, wearing safety glasses, poses leaning over an open chest freezer, holding a plastic bag of spinach.

Organic, Vegetarian or Carnivore: Whatever You Eat, My Lab Is Working to Keep It Safe

May 18, 2023

The levels of contaminants in our food supply are, generally, decreasing, but we still need to make sure our food is safe. And measuring tiny things (and big

Finding the STAMP of Human-Made Pollutants in Seabird Eggs

December 1, 2021

How can one deny the majesty of seabirds soaring over the ocean or diving underwater to capture prey? That said, collecting seabird eggs to preserve them to

RNA Structure and Dynamics: The One-Two Punch in the Fight Against COVID-19

February 24, 2021

We are all well aware of COVID-19, and by now most people have seen pictures of the spike protein that forms the “handshake” interaction between virus and host

Need Some Good News? NIST’s 2020 Highlights

December 22, 2020

2020 has been a challenging year, but we at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have worked as hard as we can to fulfill our mission for

NIST Charleston researchers Ashley Boggs-Russell (sitting) and Amanda Moors (standing) work with researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Mammal Foundation to process tissue samples during veterinary assessments of wild bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. No dolphins were harmed in this process.

Tracking Hormones on Land and at Sea

October 15, 2020

It’s usually pretty straightforward to explain how my work on clinical measurements is a benefit to society, but sometimes I get confused looks when I tell

The Rapid Microbial Testing Methods Consortium: Enabling Safe, Effective and Timely Advanced Therapies

August 26, 2020

Advanced therapies are poised to change the face of medicine, promising to cure diseases that have long resisted us. But there are many challenges to overcome

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